Fingerstyle Guitar

Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, finger-nails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (picking individual notes with a single plectrum called a flatpick) or strumming all the strings of the instrument in chords.

The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking. Music arranged for fingerstyle playing can include chords, arpeggios and other elements such as artificial harmonics, hammering on and pulling off with the fretting hand, using the body of the guitar percussively, and many other techniques.

Physically, “Fingerstyle” refers to using each of the right (or left) hand fingers independently in order to play the multiple parts of a musical arrangement that would normally be played by several band members. Bass, harmonic accompaniment, melody, and percussion can all be played simultaneously when playing Fingerstyle.

Fingerstyle Tutorials

The Fingerstyle 101 Dashboard

This dashboard is 100% progressive, meaning that you will only learn and view material as you should, instead of just clicking away at any lesson you see!

35
Objectives
Audio
34Lesson Studies
1   Getting Started
27
 Fingerstyle Intro
19
Techniques 1
29
Exercises 1
23
Jams 1
16
2   Techniques 2
6
 Basic Songs
22
 Accompanying 1
24
Exercises 2
25
Jams 2
7
3  
Techniques 321
Exercises 314
Int. Songs20
Accompanying 217
Jams 3
18
4  
Techniques 4
12
Exercises 4
9
Adv. Songs
11
Accompanying 3
8
Jams 4
10
5  
More Tab
28
Printer Zone
26
Tool Kit
30
What's Next?
31
Final FAQ's
15

PIMA Exercises

pima

PIMA is an acronym that stands for (P) Thumb (I) Index (M) Middle (A) Ring. It is a 100% proven guide to mastering fingerstyle guitar and is taught in Music Theory courses at some of the best colleges and universities! When working with PIMA, you eliminate the confusion as to which finger to use at any given time and is a perfect template for any guitarist that is interested in moving past the basics of fingerstyle guitar.

Beginner Exercises 1 - 10
Beginner Exercises 11 - 20
Intermediate Exercises 21 - 30
Int./Adv. Exercises 31-40
Int./Adv. Exercises 41-50

Here is the overall template for the usage of PIMA(e) to refresh you.

guitar tab

Each exercise below shows which fingers that will be used for each exercise in the left column, followed by an explanation in the right column.

pima 3

Online Exercise - Day 1

Open E chord to a barred E chord, using all letters of the acronym. It's a 60 bpm exercise and uses low melody notes.

guitar lesson

Online Exercise - Day 2

A few added twists in fingering order. We'll be working with the F open and F barre chord.

pima lesson

Online Exercise - Day 3

A beginner fingerstyle lead pattern that sets up a bluesy fingerstyle progression for Exercise 4. Tempo is at a slow 50 bpm.

pima2

Online Exercise - Day 4

A fun and challenging beginner fingerstyle blues song that expands from exercise 3.

guitar exercise

Online Exercise - Day 5

While a beginner exercise, this one will challenge your usage of ONLY the P and I in PIMA(e). It should be a fun challenge.

guitar lesson

Online Exercise - Day 6

We're going back to some very basic material here! This one is rather easy, and is based on a "Chicago Blues" arrangement for fingerstyle.

Begin

pima

Online Exercise - Day 7

This exercise is actually a snippet from a Bob Dylan classic. I've slowed down the tempo so that I can guarantee you'll play it with ease.

Begin

tab for fingerstyle guitar

Online Exercise - Day 8

In this beginner exercise, we're going to focus our fingers on using our P, I, and M while playing open position, everyday chords.

Begin

guitar fingerstyle tab

Online Exercise - Day 9

As a continuation from Exercise 8, this series uses the same progression, but with different positions. I also threw you a curve ball as well.

Begin

fingerstyle guitar

Online Exercise - Day 10

A combination of work from Exercise 9, this one includes a simple half note (with stacatto) run to add depth to Exercise 9. Think of it as 'comping' (accompanying) yourself.

Begin


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